Pre approval inspection :

1. This inspection will be carried out by the field office of the Board on receipt of B-part of the application from the gardens to assess the physical suitability of the applied area.



2. On completion of the inspection, a No Objection Certificate (NOC) will be issued from the field office for proceeding with the field work. The field activities undertaken prior to pre-approval inspection by the Board field office will not be eligible for financial assistance. It is strongly advised that the applicant tea gardens should commence the fieldwork only after the obtaining the NOC. This condition, however, shall be relaxed where the issuance of NOC has unduly been delayed by the field office or field activity has been undertaken after 75 days from the date of submission of application to Tea Board.



3. During pre-approval inspection, the visiting Tea Board Official shall also verify the past performance of the applicant garden in respect of Replanting/ Replacement planting/ Rejuvenation pruning & consolidation activities, undertaken with Board's Subsidy. For this purpose, the applicant garden should provide all the relevant documents, as shall be called for by the visiting field official so as to evaluate the impact of the past activities on production, productivity, quality improvement etc.



4. The NOC issued by the field office shall not be binding on the Board, if the applicant was subsequently found ineligible for loan/subsidy due to other reasons to be specified by the Board in writing.



5. The commitment of the Board would become binding only after issuance of approval cum sanction letter following the scrutiny of the pre-approval inspection report and other related documents/particulars/records, by the CEO of SPTF.

 1st post planting/post rejuvenation pruning inspection :

1. This inspection will be carried out by the field office of the Board or industry sponsored panel of inspectors, or any other persons to be deputed by the CEO for the purpose soon after receipt of information from the applicant garden about completion of replanting/replacement planting/rejuvenation pruning and infilling with or without inter-planting in the sanctioned area.



2. The applicant garden should produce a post planting survey map, Soil Analysis Report at the time of this inspection. In the case of replacement planting, besides completion of planting in the sanctioned area the prescribed minimum area should have been uprooted in the area proposed to be replaced.



3. Completion of 1st inspection and satisfactory report thereof shall entail the applicant garden for receiving 1st installment of subsidy.

 2nd post planting / post rejuvenation pruning inspection :

1. This inspection will be carried out 12 months after completion of replanting/replacement planting /rejuvenation pruning and infilling with or without inter-planting for verification of upkeep & maintenance of the replanted/replacement planting/rejuvenated area.



2. For replacement planting, the actual extent of area uprooted against replacement planting shall also be verified during this inspection.



3. Completion of this inspection and satisfactory report thereof shall entail the applicant garden for receiving 2nd installment of subsidy.

 3rd post planting / post rejuvenation pruning inspection :

1. This inspection will be carried out 24 months after completion of replanting/replacement planting /rejuvenation pruning and infilling with or without interplanting for verification of upkeep & maintenance of the area.



2. For replacement planting, the actual extent of area uprooted against replacement planting shall also be verified during this inspection.



3. Completion of this inspection and satisfactory report thereof shall entail the applicant garden for receiving 3rd installment of subsidy.

 Inspections in respect of Small holdings :

There will be only three inspections viz. pre-approval inspection followed by 1st and 2nd post planting/post rejuvenation inspections.


 Other inspections :


Apart from the above, the Board may carry out or cause to be carried out such investigations as deemed necessary for verification of the particulars furnished in the application or for any other purposes connected with grant of Loan / subsidy. The applicant shall fully co-operate in such investigations and place at Board's disposal such information and records as may be required by the inspecting officials of the Tea Board.

 Letter of undertaking :

1. The applicants availing only subsidy for all the activities mentioned above, should submit, before receiving the 1st installment of subsidy , a Letter of Undertaking on a non-judicial stamp paper. The format of LOU is appended as Annexure-7.



2. In the event of breach of any of the provisions of the aforesaid undertaking or the terms and conditions of the scheme, the Tea Board shall be entitled to call back the amount of subsidy with interest thereon @ 12% per annum.

 CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OF THE BENEFICIARY COMPANY/GARDEN :

1. In the event of any change in the ownership of the tea garden before completion of the disbursement of the sanctioned subsidy amount, the transferor / seller of tea estate shall cease to receive any further subsidy remaining to be paid by the Tea Board after transfer or sale is effected.



2. The transferee / purchaser of the tea company having recorded the present ownership with the Tea Board shall be entitled to receive subsidy due to the previous owner provided the transferee / purchaser tea company submits in writing to Tea Board the willingness to continue the development programme for which sanction has been accorded and agree to fulfill all the terms and conditions for disbursement of balance installment of subsidy.

 ADJUSTMENT OF BOARD`S DUES :

1. The subsidy payable by Tea Board for any of the abovementioned activities, will be adjusted against any defaulted amount that has become due and / or remain unsettled by the applicant tea company under any of the Board's loan scheme or any other account to the Tea Board at the time of release of subsidy. After adjustment of all dues of the Tea Board, the balance amount of subsidy if any shall be paid to the applicant tea company.